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HomeIssue 3: BankheadBehind the Bankhead Issue

Behind the Bankhead Issue

Canopy Atlanta partners with Atlantans to choose, report, and present journalism responding to community needs, helping residents tell stories about the issues that matter most to them.

 

Canopy Atlanta paid and trained five Bankhead and Grove Park community members—our Fellows—to learn journalism skills over a six-week program. They worked with other journalists to report and write the stories in this issue.  Those Fellows will use their new skills to continue working on behalf of their communities.

To choose the stories in this issue, Canopy connected with more than 75 Bankhead community members and convened a Bankhead Community Editorial Board to help guide story angles.

 

Canopy Atlanta is transforming how Atlanta’s journalism is produced by partnering with residents to provide information and tell stories about their community. Join us in making sure every Atlantan can access the information they need by supporting our work today.

Meet our Bankhead Issue team:

Our five Bankhead Fellows, who applied for the program in the summer of 2021, partnered with established local journalists to produce the Bankhead Issue. Canopy Atlanta provided instruction and mentorship in reporting skills through a six-week paid training program.

Genia Billingsley
Genia has been a legacy resident of Grove Park for more than 50 years. She is a retired operations manager with a master's in leadership and most recently served as a member of Canopy’s Bankhead/Grove Park Community Editorial Board. Genia's interested in social and economic justice and is passionate about community- and team-building. Her personal mantra: “Operate with the intention of doing what is best for all and all should do what is best.”
About Me
Ann Hill-Bond
Ann is a Jamaican-born, Ghana-raised, Southern Black-reared woman writer who currently lives in Atlanta. In 2017, she began writing for The Atlanta Voice. In 2019 and 2021, she was the licensee and producer of TEDx Collier Heights, which engaged residents from the Bankhead corridor. Ann has written on Bankhead history and is also, currently, working with former residents of Bowen Homes.
About Me
Nile Kendall
Nile is a freelance content writer and producer, and was born and raised in southwest Atlanta. He is the creator of Atlanta Decoded, a multi-platform media company and podcast that covers Atlanta politics, pop culture, independent artists and digital entertainers. Nile hopes to help Canopy document the longstanding community pillars of the Bankhead community, while bringing the untold stories of this culturally pivotal neighborhood to the forefront.
About Me
Liberty Rudo
Liberty is a west side Atlanta-based musician and recording artist who is working on his forthcoming debut album. The singer/songwriter and producer studied Political Science at Morehouse College and went on to work as a consultant in City Hall, and with several small businesses and Atlanta-based brands. Liberty teaches yoga and is passionate about helping Atlanta youth succeed in entrepreneurship, health and wellness.
About Me
Kimya Trotter
Kimya is a Program Manager at Quest Community Development Organization, Inc. where she represents and advocates for the unique financial needs of vulnerable members in the community, with a primary focus on housing stability. Kimya recently completed a fellowship with Working Film's, Inc., a nonprofit that utilizes documentary film to increase civic engagement and shift culture at the local, state, and national level. She double majored in Communications/English Literature at Mercer University and hopes to use this fellowship as a way to engage in the community, and create connection points between her everyday work, the people she serves in the Bankhead/Grove Park community, and her love for storytelling.
About Me

Workshop Facilitators and Mentors: Max Blau, Sonam Vashi, Christina Lee and Clay Voytek

Our Bankhead Community Editorial Board, who applied for the roles in the summer of 2021, helped us refine the story angles in the issue based on feedback collected from more than 75 Bankhead and Grove Park community members.

Genia Billingsley
Legacy Grove Park resident. Interested in community building, creating the beloved community and all things social justice.
About Me
Renita Johnson
As a lifelong student, resident, and entrepreneur in the area I'm excited to see how the history of Bankhead and the future of Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway unfolds. All Lives Matter.
About Me
H. A. “Tony” Lawson
Longtime resident and business owner on Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway.
About Me
Angy Moss
Mom, sister, friend and community advocate. Living life on my terms, loving my family, my friends, and my dogs. The order varies.
About Me

Experienced local journalists, photographers, and illustrators contributed to our Bankhead Issue, working on stories based on the community’s feedback or in collaboration with Bankhead Fellows.

Will Bridges

Photographer, Bankhead to Buckhead; That time I ran into Officer Gray; What community policing looks like; Environmental Equity

Starting at a young age with visual storytelling, William Bridges want to continue learning and growing in photography and hopes to follow his passion of capturing life around the world.
About me
Adrian Coleman

Video Producer, Bankhead Videos

Resource Compiler, Where is Bankhead? 

Adrian participated in CA's inaugural Fellow cohort in West End. As a Canopy West End Fellow, she received training and mentorship in research which post-fellowship she’s continued through her work with Atlanta Progressive News and Gwinnett NAACP. As a community media advocate and videographer, she’s produced hundreds of hours of community-focused content for non-profits and cablecast on Atlanta and Dekalb County public access TV stations.
About me
Sean Fahie

Illustrator, The Bankhead Issue Map

Sean Fahie (pronounced FOY) is a contract graphic designer, illustrator, creative consultant, and author based out of Atlanta. He specializes in print-based media with extensive experience in design, illustration, branding, marketing, and apparel. Fahie also has published three books, written one short film, and coproduced one full-length feature.
About me
Gavin Godfrey

Editor, The Bankhead Issue

Gavin Godfrey is a professional storyteller born, raised, and living in Atlanta. His work has appeared in CNN, NPR, Rolling Stone, Vice, Atlanta Magazine, and Creative Loafing. He currently lives in East Lake with his wife, two dogs, and a turtle named Lowery, aka Turtle Baskin.
About me
Emanuella Grinberg

Writer, Bankhead to Buckhead

Emanuella Grinberg is an Atlanta-based journalist. Her work has appeared on Court TV, CNN, Smithsonian.com and Atlas Obscura.
About me
Gavin Guidry

Photographer, The Business of Bankhead and Housing and Blight

Videographer, Bankhead to Buckhead

Gavin Guidry is a Creative Director based in Atlanta, GA. He spends most of his time leading creatives in advertising to build large scale campaigns for clients, but he started as a Content Creator specializing in community storytelling which he uses to guide all of his work today.
About me
Nikishka Iyengar

Writer, Gentrification

Nikishka is the founder of The Guild, a community wealth building organization in Atlanta developing community-owned models of real estate, entrepreneurship programs, and access to capital for Black and other communities of color. She is also a writer and podcast host with a focus on economic and community development.
About me
Aboubacar Kante

Photographer, Homelessness

Aboubacar Kante, a native Atlantan who grew up in West End, spends his days working as a photographer. A visual storyteller, he hopes to photograph and document more of West End’s rich and diverse culture.
About me
Christina Lee

Writer, Behind the Music

Christina Lee is an award-winning freelance writer whose work has also appeared in Atlanta magazine, NPR Music, The Washington Post and more. She co-hosts the Southern hip-hop podcast Bottom of the Map with Dr. Regina N. Bradley.
About me
Barbara Rego

Artist, The Bankhead Issue Cover

Barbara Rego is an Atlanta-based creative director and collage artist. She uses her graphic design and video background to relay meaningful narratives through layered storytelling. Barbara's artwork explores playful colors, textures, nostalgia, and cultural moments.
About me
Josie Duffy Rice

Writer, What community policing looks like

About me
A.R. Shaw

Writer, The Business of Bankhead 

A.R. Shaw is an Atlanta-based multimedia journalist/editor and author of the book, "Trap History: Atlanta Culture and the Global Impact of Trap music."
About me
Kamille Whittaker
Training Director

Training Director, The Bankhead Issue

Kamille is a Canopy Atlanta cofounder and the managing editor of Atlanta magazine. She is a collaborative journalist and editor with more than a decade of experience researching, reporting and managing editorial operations all along the media spectrum, including for the Atlanta Tribune and Real Times Media, the parent company of operations including the Atlanta Daily World and the Chicago Defender.
About me
Ada Wood

Writer, Environmental Equity

Ada Wood is an Atlanta-based journalist with bylines at CNN, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta magazine and GPB News. She currently fills a full time role with Canopy Atlanta as an audience producer.
About me

Help us bring community-powered journalism to more neighborhoods across metro Atlanta. Support our work today.

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